Small Business Saturday is Coming to a Local Store Near You

The Biz DeskHave you seen those ads for Small Business Saturday? It’s a campaign to encourage consumers to support small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In its second year, the idea is a niche-cousin of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It recently attracted $1 million in investment from FedEx.

The campaign focuses on building:

Awareness: – Getting consumers plugged-in to spending their money on Main Street

Whether you’re unemployed, underemployed or self-employed, these tough economic times require that you use your expertise to build awareness and advantage on the job and in the marketplace. If that doesn’t get you going, then just think about how you can use your skills to build America.

The Biz Desk invites you to post your comments below or you can send a personal note on Facebook or Twitter to @DocCunningham; on Linkedin to @DOCCommunications.

Work LifeCNBCs Maria Bartiroma has established herself as the “Queen of Wall Street.” Her financial knowledge and insider access make her an influential player in what’s typically a man’s world. Bartiroma has written three books with the most recent entitled “The Weekend that Changed Wall Street.”

The book gives a layperson’s account of the events leading up to the financial meltdown. Interestingly, it reads like a novel that could easily be describing aspects of the professional journey. To go from Bust to Breakthrough in your career or business, you have to manage:

The tension of having “no shame in your game”

The confusion regarding your professional intangibles

The decision to build a diversified portfolio

The vision to raise your passion intensity

If you can handle your career/business with these concerns in mind you’ll be able to look back and write about the week or weekend that changed your professional life.

Life’s WorkBartiroma got her start as a CNN Business News reporter. After five years she left to join CNBC where today she’s the anchor of Closing Bell. The show airs during the final two hours of Wall Street trading. She’s often credited with being the first journalist to report live from the Stock Exchange floor.

Her major in Journalism and minor in Business in essence make her life’s work about civic economics. She tries to relay civics lessons from her varied business experiences. Bartiroma has made her life’s work the coming-together of her formal training and professional calling.

Street Talk– (Social Commentary driving change!)The holiday season is fast approaching and some retailers are ramping-up. For many, between now and the end of the year they’ll make upwards of 30-40% of their annual revenue. With the current slowdown in the economy, it makes you wonder where people are going to find the money.

A few big-box retailers don’t seem worried. They plan to kickoff Black Friday holiday shopping at Midnight. But is it really that critical that we want to reduce the time spent with family to go shopping? Some will get what they’re looking for and others will get the credit squeeze or freeze coming to them.